Creating Computer Animation at Home

by Mike Amron

Everyone dreams of creating a film at home,
but now, in the era of Y2K it's easier than ever before to use a personal
computer to create animated material.

Putting Together the HardwareFirst, a decision must be made as to the computer to be used.
Putting together a system that's affordable and powerful is pretty
easy, and a system can be assembled fairly inexpensively these days.
Even your current desktop system might be used to run animation software.
The new Intel-based machines are surprisingly powerful enough to handle
the demands of current animation software. A typical or average configuration
can include a 450 MHz Pentium II (PII) processor, 250 MBs of ram and
a 9 gigabyte hard drive. That set-up will handle most production requirements.
The new Apple computers are fairly quick as well. Used SGIs (extending
up to the O2 model) bought off the web are also a possibility, in
order to keep prices at around US $1,000.

After the machine is set-up, an operating system must be chosen. The
probable choices are Windows NT and IRIX, a form of UNIX on the SGI.
(Note: You need Windows NT in order to run the popular production
software packages, as most don't run on Windows `98.) Apple has its
own operating system on their machines. Keep in mind the cost of upgrading
or maintaining your chosen operating system. To keep things current
it costs approximately $700 a year on the SGI vs. $100 a year for
an NT.

For peripherals, I recommend a drawing tablet. Doug Sayre, an animator
who's been freelancing from home creating animation for television
shows in Lightwave, recommends a good monitor (19" or more) and
back-up system, such as Jaz, Exabyte, CD-Writable, or Zip.

Choosing SoftwareThen a package on which to concentrate must be chosen. Lightwave
is a possible choice of software, as are Hash Animation Master, 3DStudio
and Truespace 3D. Softimage 3D and Maya are used extensively in the
industry, as are Houdini and Renderman, so research the packages on
the web and decide which to learn. Each package has advantages. Lightwave
is easy to use, but Hash Animation Master has a rich set of tools for
character modeling and animation and is very inexpensive at a regular
price of approximately $200. Truespace has some great modeling tools
as well. Softimage 3D is well known for character animation. Maya is
also gaining a reputation as a good particles tool and expressive character
package. Houdini is known for its procedural animation approach (one
uses abstract modules in order to create animation) and great Renderman
interface. Moreover, Renderman is known to be the highest-quality renderer
in the industry.

The disadvantages the packages have are:
Lightwave has basic polygon modeling and the character animation is
not as developed; Maya's renderer isn't as good as some other renderers;
Houdini is more oriented to people who program and isn't very intuitive
for traditional animation; and Renderman is very programming intensive.

Educational package prices are affordable and
if you are a student, you should definitely take advantage of this.
Many high-end packages offer student discounts that greatly reduce the
cost of using a professional package. Maya and Softimage can be obtained
by a full-time student at a tenth of their off-the-shelf prices through
special student programs by the vendors. Maya is priced at $500 for
the complete version of software, and the student has the option to
purchase the permanent license at half price after one year. The unlimited
version is priced at $750. Softimage is priced at $995 for a student
license that can be upgraded to the current version as long as the student
is enrolled full-time. The version reverts to a game version permanent
license after the student finishes classes. Lightwave is offered at
$895 for the student version.

Making the Most of Your SkillsConcentrate on learning the package you choose thoroughly and translating
your skills as a traditional artist to the computer realm. If you animate
traditionally, learn the tools to let you keyframe and pose a critter,
and the animation curve tools that let you create timing and pacing.
Traditional animators, once they make the transition, will find a wealth
of tools for creating expressive key poses of their characters. If you
come from a video background utilize your skills in lighting and camera
set-up. If you illustrate or sculpt, translate your aptitude for creating
detailed imagery and characters. A background in computer graphics concepts
is also very useful.

An interesting concept a company called think 3 took with training people
on their software is to create a CD-ROM game that teaches the software
as one plays the game. A player must use the concepts of the software
in order to play the game. What an original and useful idea! I hope
other companies adopt more innovative approaches to teaching their software.
Reading through dozens of manuals isn't very inspiring. Beta testing
is another possibility of working with a software company to develop
tools useful to animators.

It Pays to SurfOnce the animation package is familiar, it can be customized. Plug-ins
to create any effect you can conjure up are available, and have come
down in price drastically. Once again, student discounts make plug-ins
even more affordable.

In addition, many resources are available for the learning animator.
Doing a search on the web for your particular software package should
yield dozens of sites. After surfing through them, you'll find some
sites offer tools for your package, examples of work users have done
with the software, and tutorials on a variety of topics from modeling
characters to compositing live-action with computer animation. Take
advantage of the material on the Internet. It can be a resource for
enhancing your software. Incorporating programs and plug-ins off the
web can streamline production and make life easier. Plus, the Linux
development effort, a UNIX operating system that's essentially free,
portends much innovation in the future.

Doing Pro Work at HomeA number of animators find it preferential to work at home, setting
their own hours and communicating with fellow workers through e-mail
and fax. An example is Doug Sayre, who has been working for a while
with his own home system, and freelanced for years with an SGI. However,
Doug recently moved to an Intel chip-based machine because it was a
more affordable and faster solution to fit his animation needs.

"Working at home is a lot easier on my nerves," Doug explains.
"I do my billing, correspondence, preview animation with avi's
and send zipped scenes through the web. You can concentrate more because
there are less interruptions. And your commute time translates to work
time."

A lot of his work is done in Lightwave. His system is a 450 PIIMMX with
256 megs of ram and 18 gigs of hard drive. The system also includes
a scanner and digital camera. Doug has a 19" monitor and uses both
Exabyte and a writable CD as a back up system.

Independent animation at home is what many artists are finding is a
feasible alternative to company work. Mike Huber, an animator with production
experience on The Fifth Element, Godzilla, Star Trek:
Insurrection and Armageddon, decided to work in 3D Studio
Max on his personal project. Mike's system is a 450 dual processor PII
with 1 gig of ram and 30 gigs of space, a CD burner and DAT for backup.

Steph Greenberg, director of The Physics of
Cartoons, has been developing his own projects at home for a number
of years. The system he used on "Physics" ran Softimage on
a Netpower NT system. Steph's next project is using Hash Animation Master
on a PII generic PC. Steph says, "It's great being able to work
at home and on a project I own."

Doug echoes those sentiments: "You
can spend time with your family, have dinner, and work into the night.
When you work at home you work in a relaxed atmosphere. You can work
on multiple shows and create your own schedule. It feels good to be
an independent, sworn to fun, loyal to none."
Working at home is only going to become a more viable solution as communication
techniques and technologies improve. As internet access speed gets quicker,
the possibility of data transfer through the web will be even more feasible.
Some work can be e-mailed now. I find using a Jaz to transfer work is
convenient as well.

Going the DistanceI encourage anyone who has the imagination and drive to create independent
animation projects. Independent work gives one the opportunity to create
without relying on a studio. Independent animation projects are a viable
commodity. As the web grows and bandwidth gets faster, more programming
will be needed. Individual animations will be a highly sought-after
commodity.

Of course, the motivation to work at home has to come from within. It's
difficult to keep the high amount of energy needed to finish an independent
project. Creating a project with a group of friends can help everyone
stay motivated. A group of students can band together to work on a project.
If everyone keeps their ego in check, a cool animation can happen. It
wouldn't be the first time a company grew out of a school project.

Inspiration is unavoidable if one's attracted to CG. Everyone wants
to make creatures running through synthetic landscapes, but gathering
material for a reel is essentially a matter of good taste and originality.
By creating a reel with a concept and story that is original and unique,
an artist can take advantage over reels with oft-used walk cycles and
space scenes. It isn't the package, but the way the software is utilized.
After all, the main motivation for creating animation is to entertain
the viewer, so hopefully a reel will entertain and keep a viewer's interest
for the duration of the tape.

The bottom line is: the bottom line has gotten lower and easier to deal
with. Desktop systems make it possible to envision one's animated dream
and create quite a beautiful realization. The tools are there to make
it happen.Mike Amron is a computer graphics instructor at DHIMA. He has worked
for a number of leading visual effects companies, including Digital
Domain, VIFX and Industrial Light & Magic.

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor
by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.